Automating and securing your house with AT&T Digital Life

Have you ever left your house and only after a few miles away, started to wonder if you locked the front door? Lay there there in bed wondering if you (or your kids) remembered to close the garage door.  AT&T recently launched a new product, AT&T Digital Life, in 15 metropolitan areas that can help with these problems.  I recently got to see it in action at a home in Seattle.

While enjoying appetizers from Lark, the homeowner showed us how is house had been secured with Digital Life, from a camera and keypad lock on the front door, to automated lights in his backyard and living room, to a water alarm in his laundry room.

Just about everything in his house could be monitored and automated. At 7 PM, the lights in the living room turned on - twilight was setting in at that hour.  We were able to tilt and pan the camera in the downstairs to find where the dog was hanging out.

Through a web (or smartphone) application, we were able to review who walked up to his front door.  A novelty for a social gathering, we were able to see how fashionably late we were, but great to see who came to your door during the day. I'm lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where stealing mail or from open garages is the biggest crime, and this could help.  An Amazon package, could sit on my doorstep all day and Digital Life watches it, the motion activated camera turning on when my kid comes home and brings it in, or the nefarious thief comes by and snatches it from the front door.  I might not catch them in the act, but I'd get their smiling mug on camera.

On top of scheduled automation, there is even based automation. Your kid comes home after school, lets themselves in with their code on the keypad and you get an email letting you know they came home. Using the camera, you could see who they brought home and if they forgot to lock the door, you can do that from your smartphone or computer at work.

Many of us have timer thermostats, turning on just before you wake or come home, saving money not cooling or heating an empty home, but keeping it comfortable when you're there.  With Digital Life, you can adjust it remotely if you're coming home earlier, so its warm and inviting when you get home.  Weather in Seattle is always changing and a day that starts out cool can end up rather warm.  With Digital Life, you could reset your thermostat so your air conditioner kicks in, if you didn't set it just so before you left in the morning.

I've been awoken at 2 AM by the police just to let me know that my garage door was open. It happens all the time that my kids forget to close the garage door. With Digital Life, I could check it from my smart phone and from the comfort of my bed, close the garage door using my smart phone.  I could go as far as schedule an email of the door's status at 10 PM every night.

If you follow my wife on Instagram, you've probably seen our old dog, Sebbie. Most of the time, he lays in the family room, but he's old and sometimes his legs give out and he falls in the middle of the floor.  With the pan and tilt cameras, we could ensure that he hasn't fallen down. If he has, we could call a neighbor, unlock the door for them and lock it after they help him up. See what your pet would say.

I love the idea of being able to automate and remotely control things in my house, along with the sense of security that comes with a monitored alarm solution. The typical door and glass break sensors are available, though in a much smaller form factor.

I frequently shop for dinner on my way home from work and it would be really awesome if I could remotely pre-heat my oven as I leave the grocery store. But alas, that feature isn't available yet.

How would you use Digital Life to make your life simpler and safer? Learn more about AT&T Digital Life and let me know your favorite feature in the comments.

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Disclaimer: Besides yummy appetizers from Lark and Dry Soda, I was not compensated for this post. The opinions are all mine, as are the crazy ideas on how I'd be checking up on my kids!

Always Moving Forward - 10 Months of CrossFit

One of the foundations of CrossFit are named Work Outs of the Day (WOD). Some are purely benchmarks and some, Hero WODs, pay homage to those that have given their life in service to their country and community.  Cascade CrossFit does our benchmark WODs on Mondays.

This week, the Hero WOD JT was in our training.  This WOD honors Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jeff Taylor, a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan in 2005, along with 16 other soldiers and sailors when their helicopter was shot down.  From NavySeals.com:

Taylor was part of a dedicated Naval Special Warfare team fighting the Taliban, a fundamentalist regime that a U.S.-led coalition knocked from power in Afghanistan in 2001, but has continued to conduct guerilla operations, particularly along the Pakistan border. Taylor worked to help ensure al Qaeda terrorists could not train in, nor launch strikes from Afghanistan since their lethal attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001.Jeffrey Taylor enlisted in the Navy in 1994 and became a Hospital Corpsman. After graduating from BUD/S, Taylor was assigned to SEAL Team EIGHT, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, and SEAL Team TEN. He deployed to Afghanistan in April 2005.

Jeffrey Taylor was one of 16 troops killed when a MH- 47 Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan on June 28, on a daring daylight mission to reinforce a four-man SEAL reconnaissance squad that had been ambushed in 8,000- foot mountainous terrain.

Taylor, seven other SEALs, and eight Army “Nightstalker” Commandos died in their heroic attempt to rescue their fellow SEALs. LT Michael Murphy, Matthew Axelson, and Danny Dietz fought on courageously, providing protective fire for a fourth squad member to escape, before they were killed in the fierce firefight by overwhelming Taliban forces.

A total of 11 SEALs died that day in the Global War against Terror. It was the biggest single loss of life for Naval Special Warfare forces since World War II. To a man, these SEALs embodied the Navy’s core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment, and took care of their teammates to the end.
Jeffrey Taylor is remembered with the greatest respect and gratitude by his fellow SEALs, the Navy, and our nation. is remembered with the greatest respect andgratitude by his fellow SEALs, the Navy, and our nation.

This WOD consists of
21 Handstand push-ups, Ring dips and Push-ups

then 15 Handstand push-ups, Ring dips and Push-ups

then 9 Handstand push-ups, Ring dips and Push-ups

Its pretty tough. Hero WODs are that way, paying homage to how tough hero are.  It was also my first benchmark WOD when I started CrossFit 10 months ago.

That first day, I remember thinking that this WOD was going to kill me and I just had to finish it.  I had to modify every exercise, pike push-ups instead of hand stand push ups, thick rubber bands on the ring dips, push ups on my knees.  It took me 23 minutes to get through it.

Sunday night, I saw it posted on the blog that our WOD the next day was JT.  I knew it was still going to kick my butt, but it was going to be exciting to see how my time has changed.  I've come along way since I started, but these are pretty tough exercises.  I can get up into a handstand and hold myself up, but no push up, about 1 in 4 attempts.  I still use a band for the ring dips, but its the smallest one we've got.

But it took me just under 17 minutes this time around.

Ten months of dedication to a CrossFit lifestyle is paying off.  Every (weekday) morning, I get up and head to Cascase CrossFit for the 6AM workout. I push myself everyday and I'm always moving forward.  I competed in the CrossFit Open, comparing my performance to other CrossFitters world-wide. There were olympic lifts I couldn't do, but there were also times when I put more weight over my head than ever before.  You won't see me in the CrossFit Games with these elite athletes, but you will see me pushing myself to be my best.  I'm competing with myself.

 What do you do to challenge your self?  Do something today that makes you better than yesterday.

Twitter is an awesome pick me up

Pardon the lack of formatting; I'm writing this from my phone. My afternoon at work was sort of cruddy, so I went on Twitter to post about pigeons and statutes and which one I felt like when I saw this Tweet:

Meagan (@meagwhit) tweeted at 3:21 PM on Tue, May 21, 2013: Some days Crossfit is really the only thing that keeps me going.

It brightened my afternoon. I do have a lot more going for me than just CrossFit,  but it was that reminder that made me focus on the good parts rather than the bad.

I've got a family that loves me, a warm house over my head, my health and more. I've got a full social calendar this week with my wife after work, so I've got plenty to look forward to each day.

When you're feeling like the statue, focus on the good parts of your day. Its that, "This too shall pass" truism.

FareStart Guest Chef Spectacular

The FareStart Guest Chef Spectacular is this Thursday, May 23rd.  FareStart is Seattle non-profit that provides job training and placement to homeless and disadvantaged people.  On a weekly basis, one of the many great Seattle chefs donate their time to help train the students.  Over six thousand people have been trained through Fare Start's programs over the last 21 years.

As a result, you've got a great restaurant, doing a great thing, with a variety of great chef's doing the planning.  Good food and doing a good thing, all rolled up into one.

The Guest Chef Spectacular will be a tasting event with over 20 chefs contributing.  There will be live music, espresso from Cafe Vita and ice cream from Snoqualmie Ice Cream.  Local wineries and distilleries will be participating as well.  I'm looking forward to samples from the burgeoning distilleries here in Washington.  It will be a great way to get tastes of the great food from Seattle.



Update 23 May 1pm  from FareStart.org
Tonight's Guest Chef Spectacular Has Been Cancelled 
During set-up for our Guest Chef Spectacular event at Showbox SoDo, a structural beam in the ceiling cracked. The building was evacuated safely and there were no injuries. Under the counsel of a structural engineer, the venue has been closed for the evening and we are cancelling the event. We will be issuing full refunds to all ticket holders and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We are happy to report that all food from the evening will be utilized for our shelter meal program and will be delivered to area homeless shelters and will not go to waste. We thank everyone for their understanding. Thank you.

Yesterday's leftovers make an awesome breakfast

Food by Beau, photo by Heather.

Yesterday for dinner, I made lettuce wrap tacos with honey ancho Chile  glazed sweet potatoes. I still cooked 3 pounds of lean ground beef even though we were one athlete down at our house.

I was pleased to see that their were leftovers and I planned on turning them into a nice scramble this morning.

As I was cleaning my espresso machine and cooking my eggs at the same time, I got a little side tracked and my scramble turned into more of an omelet.  Still quite delicious.

About a week ago, I was preparing breakfast in the office and one of my co-workers noticed I was eating Paleo. She wasn't paleo herself, but someone on her team was, so she recognized it. We started talking about it and the health gains I have made since I started and she asked me if I ever felt deprived or bored being limited to certain foods.

I don't feel limited at all. There are so many combinations that you can make. Take my taco dinner, for example. If it wasn't in lettuce leaves and all mixed together it would have been a hash,waiting for a nice tomatillo sauce to be poured on top.  The same ingredients make a great breakfast scramble, which saves a ton of time.

Paleo - not only am I healthier but it helps me save time (with a little advanced preparation).

Automation to stop texting and driving

I've been on a big kick to leverage automation in my life lately.  I've been using If This Then That as a way to trigger actions based upon events (primarily email I've received).  I wrote a script to download some reports every week, so I don't have to spend the time to do it.  I've spent the weekend working on a software project to monitor and respond to activity on a certain social network.  This post will go online on a schedule; I wrote it Sunday night. But more on these things later.

I also spend a lot of time on the road - not travelling, road warrior style, but commuting. However, my commute is pretty pleasant for two major reasons. First, it's not that long, just a little over 30 minutes and second, I ride a van pool.  While I do drive, I don't drive everyday, so I get a good break from the stress of the road.  However, when I'm a passenger, a day doesn't go by when I don't see someone talking or texting on their phone.  On average, there is a car crash once every 5 minutes due to a driver texting!

I've had the opportunity to use a Pantech Discover from AT&T, the first AT&T smartphone designed to help prevent texting while driving. It comes with the AT&T Drive Mode application, which automagically kicks in when the phone is moving faster than 25 mph.  When it is active, most apps are blocked, most callers are sent straight to voice mail and text messagers get an auto-reply message with out any notifications.  You can white list a few phone numbers (so that your spouse can call you) and you can allow a music and a navigation application.  Any other applications are met with a screen indicating that Drive Mode is active.

In my case, I'm a passenger a lot, so I've discovered that it is pretty easy to turn it off - simply hitting two on screen buttons.  But if you're driving, it makes you think that much more "Is it really that important to check my phone right now?"

When I'm driving, my phone sits in a cup holder and now, it just sits there silently. No temptations to answer it, no temptation to increase my risk of car crash 23 times!  The phone just does its thing automatically, one less thing to think about.  That is what I really love about automation - things just get taken care of.

As with any technology, there are a few watch outs.  My wife is more likely to text me than to call, which can be problematic if she wants me to pick up something to make for dinner on the way home from work - I won't know to check the message until I'm at home, already having driven past the grocery store.  She's on my white list, so I know that if the phone rings while I'm driving, its someone worth pulling over for.

Unless you manage that white list well, you are allowing the phone to make the decision for you, rather than see who is calling and decide if you're going to stop to take the call. I do like setting contact photos so I can quickly see who is calling and make a decision if I'm going to answer or not.  They can listen to my radio while I put in my headset and turn on blue tooth.

I have fairly good self-control, unless small pieces of chocolate, easy to pop in your mouth are involved, so its easy for me to just let the phone ring or beep that someone texted me.  I've got some personalized ring tones which make me grin, so its alright to listen to them.  But if you're someone with less self-control or a new teen driver, this automation is just one more decision point - is it worth it to answer the phone.  Its far better to have your phone remind you that it can wait, rather than the State Patrol telling you.

Over half the states have laws restricting or prohibiting the use of mobile phones and in some of them, its a primary offense that you can be pulled over for.  So even if you think you're a good enough driver and your reaction times aren't impaired (sounds a lot like a drunk driver argument, doesn't it?), you're still at risk.

Automation is meant to make your life simpler, so that things are taken care of and that you can be present in the moment.  And when you're behind the wheel, that is where your focus needs to be.

One of my Ralley Crew is now a driver himself!

I've been overall impressed by the Pantech Discover.  At only $49.99 in all AT&T channels, it's a great bargain. Its running Android 4.0 (which is a big step from Froyo on my old phone) and has a large, crisp 4.8" screen.  With the recent addition of LTE coverage in my area, I actually didn't realize that I wasn't on wifi at home for the first few days - its that fast.  Its processor is quick, so you can take care of everything you need to do and not try to squeeze it in while driving.  With the 12 Mega pixel camera and a battery that lasts me well into the evening, you'll be seeing more pictures of my dinners rather than just breakfasts!

Disclaimer: I received a phone as compensation for this post, but the opinions are mine.  Some of the factoids were provided by AT&T, so I had to do a little less research. But come on, we all know that driving distracted is dumb and  It Can Wait!

A few paleo living tips and tricks

Here are a few tips and tricks I've come across while making the transition to paleo-ish living.  It is a little harder to eat cleaner, but these are some things I've picked up along the way. Maybe they'll help make it easier for you.

Plan ahead

I go to a 6 AM CrossFit session and I want to get as much sleep as I possibly can.  So, every night, I layout my work out clothes at the end of my bed.  I choose my work clothes and pack them in my WOD bag (hopefully I remember shoes and underwear). My kids make fun of me for being like a little school boy, but I can get out of the house and be ready for the day (lunch is also made the night before) in less than 17 minutes.

All kinds of failures this AM. Forgot boxers. Vanpool (and backup) didn't drive today. I'm going commando on the bus.
— Beau Raines (@beauraines) August 31, 2012

But I also make my breakfasts for the week on Sunday afternoon.  Many paleo living bloggers cook for a full week of meals and vegetables. I'm not that far along yet, but I'll grill some chicken and fry some bacon and take some avocados in to the office for the week.  I dice the chicken and bacon and warm it in the microwave and serve with diced avocados.  Even vegetarians have commented that it looks like a good breakfast!

I keep it constantly varied by changing up the spices. I can make Asian, Thai, Mexican, Italian or Greek chicken all for breakfast with different spices and marinades.  I'm not going to get bored eating paleo and I don't feel like I'm missing anything!

Be Prepared

This one goes hand in hand with Plan Ahead.  There are days when the WOD was much harder and my lunch just seems that much smaller.  But I carry what I call Emergency Food in my messenger bag.  I've got a couple of Lara Bars (almost all of them are paleo -  the ones with chocolate chips have added sugar and some have peanuts) or Goodness Knows Bars (not paleo) in there.  Sometimes they slip to the bottom of my bag and get smushed a bit, but a smushed one still fills the hole in my tummy!

My favorites are the Coconut Cream Pie and Chocolate Coconut Chew, but the Key Lime is a nice bright twist some times.  And as I was checking out their website, I noticed that there is a Cappuccino flavor that is also paleo.  Why doesn't my grocery store carry this flavor!

There is a similarity to carrying Gold Fish crackers (really not paleo) for your young children and what I'm doing, but mine isn't so crummy. And I don't whine, contrary to the ending of the previous paragraph.

Sweet Potatoes

I've recently discovered how magical Sweet Potatoes are.  The orange ones, sometimes called yams, are the ones I'm talking about. The white sweet potatoes are even more starchy and fall on the paleo to be avoided list, but the orange ones are more acceptable, especially from an athletic perspective (less so if you're paleo trying to lose weight).

Sweet potatoes are a great source of carbs for back loading and preparing for a workout.  They make great french fries (and if baked, they can be paleo).  But I knew all those things already.

What I recently discovered is that they microwave super easy and can be made into cubed or smashed sweet potatoes in my office lunch.  When topped with some bacon, dried herbs or leftover sauce from something slow-cooked they taste even better.  Once at home, I even fried some crushed sage leaves in coconut oil for pure paleo goodness on top of the sweet potatoes.

Vanilla whey protein powder

Okay, so this one isn't strict paleo but it fits in with the primal or paleo for athletes life-style.  Protein powder is an easy way to get calories and protein, especially in that critical 30 minutes post working out.  And that stuff is expensive!  Its an item on a very short list that I think that we should buy at Costco, because it doesn't spoil and its definitely a buy in bulk item.

The problem with Costco is trying something the first time. The Cytosport Vanilla Whey Protein is way too sweet, and that opinion was shared by all of my family. So, this 6 pound bag of liquid cake batter sat in the pantry for almost 6 months.  As we ran out of the Chocolate flavor and hadn't yet made the time consuming trip to Costco (there is no such thing as a quick Costco run), I started to use the cloyingly sweet Vanilla Whey protein.

I prepare my water bottle (see Plan Ahead, above) the night before. I fill it with the powder and after working out the next morning, I add the water at my CrossFit box.  I got the wild idea to put some instant coffee in with the powder, thinking it might take an edge off the sweetness.  It was a home-run! While it wasn't an excellent coffee drink, it was way better than cake batter drink. It was kind of like a frappuchino, but one that I felt better about drinking.  The slight bitterness of the instant coffee countered the overly sweet powder and made it drinkable.

Do you follow a paleo/primal lifestyle?  Share some tips that help you get by in the comments!

A new place to Frolik in downtown Seattle

Thursday night, I was able to go to a pre-opening event for Frolik: Kitchen + Cocktails at the Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue.  I'm not one to hang out in hotel restaurants in my hometown, but I could easily envision a future happy hour here - great eats, excellent cocktails and some fun things to while hanging out.

For this event, the restaurant had more of a party atmosphere with passed appetizers and a DJ and lots of blue light.  But it was great, because we were able to sample so much from their menu.

There are plenty of small plates to just pop in your mouth.  The bacon wrapped dates with their savory, sweet taste and grape, goat cheese and pistachio bon-bons and little dishes of warmed, marinated olives all made for great snacks.

Executive Chef Shailu Salian came up with many other delicious dishes, for all aspects of your palate.  Roast rainbow carrots with braised greens with a honey yogurt sauce and roasted brussels sprouts with almonds were superb vegetable dishes that appealed to my paleo-ish lifestyle, but there was a lot of cheating going on this night.

The tiramisu was wonderful, with a subtle coffee taste and the lady fingers were so light and airy I almost thought that they were accidentally omitted at first.  Bacon makes everything better and then when you add to that bourbon and popcorn, you get a grown up caramel popcorn, but not one that is cloyingly sweet.

I'm not a fan of lamb chops, but the lamb with peach chipotle jam was excellently prepared.  It had just the right amount of red in the middle, still moist and tender. But I still don't like lamb, its just me.

There were still some kinks. The smoked salmon deviled eggs didn't quite deliver. I'm a sucker for anything with smoked salmon, but these ones seemed like the salmon was forgotten.  The spicy melon popsicle was flavorful, but there was no spicy.  I'm sure those will be found in the kitchen and added to their rightful places. The kitchen seemed calm and collected for a first night and I'm sure that will carry over.

He gives a nod to the locals and have charcuterie from Salumi and oysters from Taylor Shellfish Farms.  It was great to try different oysters and really savor the nuances of their flavors. I've had oysters before, but never realized the variations.  The guys shucking oysters were quite knowledgeable and made it quite an experience.  The crab mac n cheese was a gooey treat, crunchy with bread crumbs on top, sweet with crab and buttery with Beecher's Cheese, with a hint of spice in the afterbite.

The cocktail menu has twists on the classic cocktails. I'm sure they can make a fruity drink, but chartreuse and maraschino are well represented in their drinks.  I'd never had a cocktail made with scotch, but the Scotch and Tell is a winner.  The smokiness of the scotch just gives it a wonderful taste that I've never had before.

On a warm sunny Seattle afternoon, the huge patio would be a great place to sit or play.  There is shuffle board, ping pong tables and a hug fire place. The heat lamps look like giant lamps and will take the edge off of the damp Seattle air, if its not so sunny.

Anybody can find something to eat, drink or enjoy at Frolik.  Happy Hour runs daily 4 - 10pm and starting in the summer, they'll be showing movies on the patio. I'll try to catch one this summer, with a Scotch and Tell in hand and popping bourbon bacon popcorn in my mouth!

The restaurant officially opened April 19th, so go check them out!
Frolik Kitchen + Cocktails

5th floor Red Lion Hotel

1415 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98101
(206) 971-8000

Hip cooks at Hipcooks

This week I attended a cooking class at Hipcooks Seattle, courtesy of Goodness Knows snack squares, with a few bloggers and social media people from around Seattle.  As my blog has humble traffic and my Facebook feed is mostly filled with updates on my CrossFit workouts, I was pretty honored to be in that bunch.  Plus, I was the only guy in the class, so lunch with a bunch of ladies always works out.

I have to be honest, it started out with two faux pas on my part.  First, I messed up the calendar and put the wrong location down.  Instead of going someplace about 5 blocks from my work - walkable - we took a 15 minute drive, paid $4 to park and then drove back.  Luckily, we were ahead of schedule and were only a few minutes late to lunch.  Obviously, I was still flustered about the wrong location and when I was introduced to our host, Jenni Hogan, the first thing that came out of my mouth was "Hello. You're tall."  We've got a big flat panel TV and I've seen her do the traffic many times, but even on our big TV, she didn't seem model tall.  Evidently, she used to be a rower and she was wearing tall heels. And she's also probably the first big media personality that I've met.  I wonder if I would have been able to fit both feet in my mouth if I had been as lucky as Whit to interview Scarlett Johannsen (in my research for this post, I learned she canceled but Whit interviewed Samuel Jackson instead!).

We participated in Hipcooks Healthy, Fresh and Zingy class, making two red pepper soups and a seared tuna with fresh mango cucumber salsa.  I was a little concerned heading to a cooking class given my paleo-ish eating.  But with a name like Healthy, Fresh and Zingy I had little to worry about, although there is photographic evidence of me holding bread, gently rubbing it with heads of garlic.

I didn't eat any! Photo by @unitedstatesofmotherhood

The Hipcooks class was fun and about just cooking with your senses. No measuring, kind of a tough one for me, just doing it all by feel.  I do like a recipe as a starting point, but after I become familiar with it, I do it by feel.

I learned a few awesome things too.  When roast peppers, I usually cut them into slices before hand.  I lose the liquor, the juices from inside the pepper, so I'll be roasting peppers whole and then cutting them into slices/strips.  Our salsa had lime zest in it and we discussed using leftover zest to make citrus sugars which would make a nice hostess give or rimmer for a cocktail. I'd be interested in trying to make lemon pepper, as we've been eating a lot of chicken lately. I even learned how to pour two soups in a bowl and keep them separated and make a ying-yang look (sorry, no photos).

I wasn't the only one who was learning things - two of the ladies don't cook and they've got photographic evidence of them making some pretty good food now. And now, their friends want Kat to make it for them.

@beauraines @scoutshonor Well now they're all asking me to!! #UhOh #ImInTrouble
— Kat is my first name (@Kat_Kim_) April 12, 2013

We chatted and snacked on Goodness Knows squares. They're pretty good, not paleo, but small enough that the amount of non-paleo things is pretty negligible.  A cheat with some grains and sugars, but all in all still a good snack.  Since there are four bites in a package, I could even cheat-snack and not feel too bad about it.  Its not like its a whole slice of bread.  I really like the Very Cranberry one (the only one I've tried so far), but my kids and wife like them a lot.  Goodness Knows snack bars will have a place in my messenger bag as emergency snack food. They're currently only available in Portland, Seattle and Denver, but if you pester them on twitter, I bet you could find out when they're coming to you!

After our snack, we went back to class and made a super easy strawberry sorbet. I've made sorbet before, but it involved sugar syrups and mashed berries and my ice cream maker.  This was just frozen strawberries, some vanilla bean paste and a blender!  Throw them all together, blend till smooth and enjoy! I think that this could even be made as a one person snack, say for when a kid comes home from school on a hot summer day (if we ever get those in the Pacific NorthWest).

It was a great break from work to cook and meet and network with some cool people.  I got to meet Kerri's new baby, who was quite possibly the quietest baby I've ever met.  Hopefully, with help from Kristin and my nagging, Heather will move her blog to Wordpress.

Things are going alright

This morning, a little after 5:30 am, I was driving down the road and I thought to myself, "Things are going alright."  It was a strange thought to jump in my head at that hour, as I'd been up for less than 15 minutes and was on my way to CrossFit.

My health is great, probably best its been in a decade and my energy levels are up, probably both due in part to CrossFit and eating Paleo.  I can do pull-ups, something 6 months ago I was not able to do. I competed in the CrossFit Open (a topic for a separate post) and was pleased with my performance.

Work has been busy, but rewarding. Today's reward was a rather large stage gate approving a rather large project with a rather large capital expense and it went without a hitch (other than the negative guy who appears to be trying to waylay the project - but I can take him).

I've had recently been in touch with several friends, some with updates, some asking for advice. One buddy had to switch jobs unexpectedly, but did so pretty quickly, which was good.  I was able to provide another friend some advice for a project he's working on.  I've got a job and I'm helping other people.  Little things, yes, but they contribute to my satisfaction.

My family is healthy.  My kids are happy and enjoying their spring break.  My wife is kicking butt at CrossFit.  We've got some productive carpools so she doesn't have to drive all the kids to all their swim practices all the time.

Yeah, things are going alright.

Paleo Preparations for the Upcoming Week

The slow cooker is stewing Stupid Easy Paleo's Moroccan Chicken with homemade Ras el Hanout spices from Clothes Make the Girl for dinner tonight.  Next week's Paleo blueberry muffins from PaleOMG are baking in the oven and the chicken is already grilled.  All that remains to prepare for tomorrow is gather my clothes to change into after 6AM CrossFit tomorrow morning.  I'm able to get out of the house in under 17 minutes and start my day.

Eating Paleo requires some planning in advance, especially when head straight from CrossFit to work in the morning. Deep down inside, I'm a planner and that advanced planning and preparation appeals to me. I don't mind that I'm going to eat blueberry muffins, avocado and grilled Thai seasoned chicken tenders all week for breakfast. I do miss that there won't be bacon in there this week, but that's part of the reason I made muffins.

Here's to a new week!  Eat clean.

A strange week indeed

The week before last, was a strange one. Several of the interactions I had or observed had weird role reversals.

My wife is a hottie. When she changed her profile picture on Facebook, I wasn't surprised to see the comment that she was a MILF.  I'd agree with that statement. But what was weird was that the comment came from someone I assumed was straight and know in a social context.  Great sentiment, but not from a source I expected.

The kids and my wife went thrift shopping and somehow my wife convinced my oldest to dress up and take some pictures.  He's looking pretty fly, no?  Well, it seems that a self-identified adult lesbian thought so too (in a non-creepy way).

I've been eating paleo for a while and my breakfasts have been grilled chicken tenders, bacon and avocado. It's great, I can grill them at home for the week and bring it into the office and re-warm in the microwave and chop avocado there.  Hot breakfast, great, healthy paleo food can't be beat.  So, it turns out that a vegetarian co-worker said, while being serious, "Looks like a healthy breakfast!" It was like 80% meat!

Lot's of role reversals here, but there wasn't a full moon. What do you think was going on?

Paleo eating, CrossFit and Business...

I realized that I've slipped a bit in posting a new blog each week, but I do have some things to write about.  This week, I'll write about Paleo eating and CrossFit and I'll bet you probably saw those coming.  But I'll hit another topic, that I rarely write about, business.  This whole post stems from a business trip I took 2 weeks ago for the full week.

If you're a long time reader (I know I have some regulars, even though I'm not so regular, so thank you), you might recall I used to work from home. I'd make occasional trips to my company's office, day trips or on rare instances, an over-nighter.  Now that I've changed companies, my travel has been different. This trip was a full week, which adds complications to eating paleo and doing CrossFit.

I was a little concerned about how I would be able to stick to my strict paleo challenge during this trip.  In the end, I realized it wasn't so hard after all. You do have to read the menus and be ready to ask for items to be excluded. I was in Arizona and when I went to the local Mexican restaurant, I had to turn down the chips and the tortilla with my dinner, and avoid eating the cheese covered beans.  In fact, when my plate came out, my fork went for the cheesy beans first and then I realized the error of my ways.  "Hold the cheese and hold the potatoes," was the standard addition to my breakfast orders at the hotel restaurant.

Group lunches during our meeting were a little hard, but I foresaw that and I made sure to bring some paleo friendly snacks to tide me over during the day.  The meeting organizers did a good job of trying to meet everybody's special diet needs, though one day instead of sandwiches, I was given a salad.  I could have just eaten the inside of a sandwich!

And I've found that in the west, specialty diet restaurants are becoming more prevalent. I've found restaurants in Portland and now Phoenix that cater to paleo lifestyles among others.  A quick search helped me find Nourish 123 and so a buddy and I went there for dinner one night.

Fish tacos in a jicama shell. How cool is that? And to top it off, I didn't need to ask them to hold anything or make any substitutions. I just ordered from their menu with the little Paleo icon.

CrossFit was a little more difficult. Our schedule was a little unpredictable, so I wasn't sure that I'd be able to get to an evening session at one of the local CrossFit boxes. But I made sure to workout (the first evening and then 3 more mornings), but it wasn't nearly as intense and I did skip one morning.  It just isn't the same, working out in a little fitness center (really a room to hold elliptical machines and treadmills), without music and without the motivation of my fellow 6AM'er CrossFitters.

My return flight to Seattle arrived at 5:30pm. I went straight to Cascade CrossFit and met my wife and youngest kid there. I was 16 minutes late, which earned me an 80 burpee penalty (I did 40 before the WOD and 40 the next day), but it was great to get a good CrossFit WOD in.  And in fact, that burpee practice helped me prepare for the CrossFit Open 13.1 WOD, but more on that later.

Thanks for reading this far and getting through all the CrossFit and paleo stuff. Although the trip was long and took me from my family, my own bed and my CrossFit box for a week, it was a good business trip.  But the neatest thing was that I got to spend several days with a CEO and see how he thinks about things when he is on the shop floor in the weeds.

I was impressed how he would listen to the associates tell how they did their jobs and every time, he'd ask them, "What can we do to make your job easier?"  Yeah, he had his own ideas, but he would actively seek that feedback from the associates, because the associates do the job day in and day out.  It was great to see that a CEO isn't that much different than you and I; they're people too. In fact, I ran into him in the elevator of our hotel as I was going to workout and he said that he didn't have that discipline to workout when travelling.

We all have our own strengths and weaknesses and through listening to others and learning from each other, we can all become stronger.

Week 4 - 30 Day Paleo Challenge

Week 4 (I'm behind in posting) of the 30 day Paleo challenge started with the SuperBowl and my birthday.  But I kept to the strict paleo with a great mix of paleo and non-paleo appetizers for our SuperBowl watching party.  Kale chips and beet and sweet potato chips and guacamole make me happy. I made some non-paleo things to keep the kids happy too, pizza pillows and I tried my hand at twice baked potatoes.

 I got these wonderful chocolate paleo cupcakes with my birthday dinner.  They were a great treat and I'm grateful that my wife went out of her way to make something paleo compliant.  Strict paleo is a bit more complicated to eat, since you're being strict. Duh.

During Week 4, I decided to join Ash and some of his friends on a strict paleo challenge from the Super Bowl through March Madness.  I had done 3 weeks already when I made the commitment to join them, so I felt I could go a few more weeks.  But that threw a wrench in the gift from Kid3.  Quite possibly York Peppermint patties are one of my most favorite candies and most definitely not paleo.  They're sitting on my desk waiting for these challenges to end, and then I'll dole them out slowly.

Week 3 of my paleo challenge ended with the first Beer Thursday for my team at work. And then it started to recur. There have been some good beers brought in. When I'm done with the Super Madness CrossFit Paleo challenge, this will be a cheat night for sure. At least just a little taste.

I enjoyed my free birthday coffee from Starbucks, a Maui Mokka reserve.  It was made on the Clover machine and was quite a nice cup of coffee. It was priced at over $4 (so it had better had been good), but I'm not sure I'm willing to pay that price myself.

So, Week 4 ended with a few days left of my original paleo challenge and me starting a new one.  At this point, its getting routine to eat this way, but sometime in March there is going to be some beer and pizza for sure!

Starting Week 3 of the 30 Day Paleo Challenge

This week starts week 3 of Cascade CrossFit's 30 Day Paleo Challenge. I think I've figured out how to get by without my non-paleo cheats and discovered some nasty secrets about our food.

Breakfast used to be the very non-paleo oatmeal.  I've started pre-making some chicken and bacon and bringing it to the office. With half an avocado, it makes a delightful breakfast.

Another one of my cheats has been a Muscle Milk protein shake as my post workout nutrition.  The first week, I tried a fig and banana smoothie. It tasted okay, but didn't have very much protein, only coming from the almond milk.  But it seemed like it was too much (naturally occurring) sugar and not enough protein to support the crazy CrossFit WODs.

As that week ended, I thought about using pasteurized egg whites. They're safe to eat raw and several of the manufacturers have recipes for smoothies on their websites. I ended up making my own concoction and have been drinking that post workout.

Coffee Banana Protein Smoothie

1 banana, broken into pieces

1/2 cup pasteurized egg whites

1/2 cup almond milk

1 heaping tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup cold coffee

2 heaping tablespoons almond butter 

Combine in a blender and blend until smooth.

Making the smoothie is something I have to do in the morning, so it has changed my morning routine a little.  When I was using the protein powder, I was able to put it in my bottle the night before and then add water after CrossFit.

I've also noticed that different almond butters act do a better job of thickening than others.  The all natural, only contains almonds almond butter seems to require more than my local grocery stores natural, no mix almond butter. 

Food manufacturers sneak wheat into all kinds of things.  The smoked almonds we were eating, had wheat and soy added to them.  What is up with that?  It made them non-paleo and I've switched just to roasted almonds.  Yesterday, I tried roasting my wasabi almonds.  The first batch was a bust and the second batch didn't last long enough for pictures, though the wasabi taste was muted during the roasting process. I've got to figure out how to get more wasabi in there, post-roasting, and make it stick to the almonds.  That's one of the things I'll work on during week 3, I think.

So, two more weeks to go.  With some small changes (from paleo-ish to strict paleo) and some pre-planning, eating paleo is okay. I still feel good and with as much energy as before.  Living clean takes a little bit of work, but it seems worth it.

Quick script to remind you to stretch

Late last week, I hurt myself a little bit doing hang clean and jerks.  I over-extended my arm when bringing weight down between reps.  I think it had more to do with limited mobility, the fact that I drive a desk all day long and how I sleep with my arms curled up on my chest.

My coaches said my front rack needed work and I needed more mobility in triceps.  So, at home, I've been working on my front rack and triceps stretches.  But at work, I needed to make sure I did something too.  So, I wrote a quick little script to remind me to stretch every so often, with a pop-up window and an alert sound.

As a prerequisite, other than the normal packages installed in an Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop install, the
vorbis-tools package.

Find your desired alert sound.  You can find many sounds in
/usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/
/usr/share/sounds/gnome/default/alerts/

Create the file, stretch_reminder.sh using your favorite text editor.  Step it up and use vi!

#!/bin/bash

# Alert with sound and popup to remind you to stretch

ogg123 /usr/share/sounds/ubuntu/stereo/system-ready.ogg &

zenity --warning --display=:0.0 --text="It's time to stretch." 

exit 0

Schedule the script in your crontab

$ crontab -e

and then enter the following line
*/30 8-17 * * * /path/to/your/script/stretch_reminder.sh > /dev/null >&1

The crontab entry as written will run every thirty minutes, between 8am and 5pm and won't email you success (or failure) notices each time it runs.

This script has been running all week long for me at work and its been great. I do a few stretches for my forearm, right there in my chair and by the end of the week, I was almost as good as new.  I didn't miss any CrossFit time and I was able to get through my days without pain!

Could I Be A Paid Blogger?

Ahh, the irony.  Just last week (or maybe the week before), I got an email asking if I wanted to blog for Eden's Fantasy, an online adult retailer.  That same week, my wife, whose blog does bring in some income, was asked if she would be willing to review gear for Seattle Backpackers Magazine or had any gear that needed repairing at Rainy Pass Repair, a leading Gore-Tex and gear repair company located in Seattle.
While Heather has a far greater reach online than I do, I think that somehow, we got the marketing demographics all messed up. Sure, there is a place for adult toys in my life, but I'm not sure I'm going to write about it online.  But the outdoors, I'd be super happy to try out new gear and share my experiences.  And when she mentioned gear repair, I was able to jump up and grab my hardshell pants and show her where I had a rip in the cargo pocket and in my seat.
Maybe the outdoor gear reviews were just the Internetz helping combine two of my resolutions, dates with Heather and get outdoors at least once a month. I'm not sure if she's accepted those offers or not, but I think that she should!
I turned down the Eden's Fanstasy blogging opportunity, too. So, I'm still not a paid blogger and rest assured that the toys that get written about here will be geeky or classic toys.

Starting the Paleo 30 Day Challenge

Today, I'm starting the 30 Day Paleo Challenge.  Our CrossFit box, Cascade CrossFit, is challenging its members to eat strict paleo for 30 days.  Well, as I say often during a WOD, "I can do anything for x more minutes," the same thing applies here. I can eat strict paleo for 30 days.
I've been eating pretty clean, paleo/primal for a while now and have made it a new habit.  I have 4 cheats that I've got to figure out what I'm going to during this challenge.

1. Protein shake - After CrossFit, I have a Muscle Milk protein shake. Its convenient, because I put the powder in a bottle the night before and use water from the box. I shake it while I walk out to my car and drink on the way to the park and ride.  I get that post-workout protein and nutrition.  I'm searching the web for some protein shakes I can blend at home before I go. There's going to be a lot of bananas, dates and almond milk in my future.
2. Blueberry Crisp Clif Bars - On the way to CrossFit in the morning, I eat half a Clif bar.  It helps pre-fuel me for the day's WOD.  I'm going to switch to Lara bars for the challenge.
3. Oatmeal - This one is tough. I've been eating oatmeal for breakfast for years.  It helped me reduce my cholesterol and I lost about 10 pounds by just making that switch for breakfast.  Its also convenient, because I don't eat until I get to the office.  I'm going to try Paleo Butternut Squash Porridge and the Morning Glory Muffins I made.  I've made enough that should last me for breakfasts for the week and will take them to work. If anybody has any good breakfast suggestions that are non-egg and easy to take to work or prepare, please leave them in the comments! 
4. Greek yogurt - I like the consistency of the greek yogurt and its been an easy way to round out my breakfast at work.  Since dairy isn't paleo, its out.  I'm hoping with squash and fresh berries and coconut milk that keeps me sated through the morning.

The rest of the meals, I've got covered. Lunch has some leftovers from our pretty paleo dinners. I've got almonds and apples for snacks.  Dinners are at home and paleo.  I think that breakfast has been the hardest thing to switch to paleo.

Wish me luck!

Just a Wednesday dinner

This week, Heather and I worked it out that I would cook dinner on Wednesday and Friday.  About mid-day Wednesday, she called me to say that she was going to make a stop at Fred Meyer, and if I needed anything, which I did.  It was all there in our shared Remember The Milk groceries list, so she said she would get it all too.  I was planning to shop after work, so it was nice that she was able to combine it to her trip.
Except she hardly shops at Fred Meyer at all and had to look all over the store for the things on my list. She told me last night that it took her past all kinds of processed foods, which she found to be really gross, as we've made big changes to the way we eat in our house.  I was grateful that she picked up the things we had on the grocery list - it was a great collaboration.
She did, however, get what I asked for on my list.  I had cut and paste some ingredients right from the recipe and didn't know how expensive they were.  I probably would have downgraded the steak from boneless rib-eye to something a little more affordable, but she went ahead and got it for me.  It was a nice steak and made Wednesday dinner quite nice.

Pan-seared rib-eye steaks with porcini and rosemary rub and roasted acorn squash with pomegranates and roasted pumpkin seeds. Photo by Heather.

Growing up, I hated squash, with a passion.  I think it stems from how the microwave was so popular in the late 70's and 80's.  You can microwave squash and its "done" in about 15 minutes.  Or you can roast it in an oven for about an hour plus time for pre-heating. The time investment is worth it.  I've grown to love roasted butter nut squash, so I decided to branch out and try a recipe from Sunset Magazine.
As we're eating Paleo-ish and I really enjoy cooking and am quite the recipe clipper, I'm always on the lookout for recipes that just happen to also be paleo.  The Roast Squash with Pomegranates, Honey and Roasted Pumpkin seeds had all the right stuff, and Heather had bought some pomegranates at Costco, so I decided to give it a try.  I'd never eaten delicata squash before and unfortunately, my grocery store was out of it.  It might be an earlier winter squash.  But I made it with acorn squash instead and it was great.  In fact, as a testament to how good it was, Kid 2 actually had seconds of the squash!
As Heather and I were talking about the steak she bought (at $10 per pound), she said that she would just season it with salt and pepper and cook it.  But I had a recipe from the Seattle Times for a porcini and rosemary rub for the steak.  Again, this recipe was paleo out of the box and was pretty easy to prepare.  It did require some marination time, but since I was making a later dinner so the kids could get home from swim practice, I had extra time.
The steak is quite simple to prepare. I ground the porcini mushrooms into a powder in our spice grinder (yes, we have a dedicated spice grinder, with a washable tub) and mixed it with finely chopped rosemary.  With a little salt and pepper, it became a rub for the steak. And a tasty, tasty rub it was.  Then, the steaks were pan fried.  We like our meat on the rare side so I did 6 - 8 minutes per side plus some time for resting afterwards.
The steak was a hit and luckily there were leftovers, so Kid 1 and I both had a pretty fancy lunch the next day at school and work!
I'm willing to bet that the rub would work well with a less expensive, marbled cut of steak. As I have enough dried porcini mushrooms to repeat this, I just might try it out.  Or if you have any good suggestions to use porcini mushrooms, leave them in the comments!

Resolutions 2013

It's that time of year when people make New Year's Resolutions. The past few years, I've not made any resolutions. I've realized that its not about setting a goal or objective, but these resolutions are about making a new habit.  Sure, they start with a goal (lose weight, get my finances in order), but whats really important is creating a new habit.

Goals and New Habits for 2013

1. Master Double Unders - Last year I started CrossFit and I couldn't do a single unassisted pull up. I worked on them after working out and after 4 months, I could do 10 unassisted, un-interrupted. And if there are more in a WOD, I can continue, breaking them up into smaller sets.  This year, I'm going to master Double Unders (goal). Most of the time when I get a double under, or maybe 2, I mess up the next one because I'm surprised.  So, I'm going to practice Double Unders 3 times a week (new habit).
2. Stay hydrated (goal).  Because I'm doing working so hard in CrossFit, I need to drink lots of water.  I'm going to drink 3 quarts of water a day (resolution). I've got this pretty well ingrained and I carry a quart water bottle with me all the time.
3. Get my digital life in order (pretty generic goal).  I want to make sure I have good backups of my data and will rely on cloud storage for this.  I do want to make sure I can share my media with the devices within my house. (Not sure where the habits are here - we'll have to see how this one goes).
4. Update my blog regularly (goal). I'm writing about once a month now (it feels less than that) and I'd like to write at least two times a month. I don't feel that I can commit to weekly.
5. Get outside to nature (hiking, snowshoeing, camping, backpacking) (goal) once a month (habit).
6. Eat more fish (goal).  We've started eating paleo (habit to continue) but at least once a week (new habit) I want to eat fish.  Fish are a lean meat too!
7. Schedule monthly (or more frequent) date nights with Heather (habit).  Ironically, we met for coffee last night. What a way to kick of this new habit. 
8. Get our finances in line.  Heather and I need to work on the specifics of this one, because this is one we'll have to take on together.  If I were the King of the Universe, we'd have a budget that we stick to and a plan to pay down our debt.

As I was writing my list of resolutions, I realized that there were some good habits that I started in 2012. As a result I've identified several habits that I want to maintain.

Habits to Maintain

• CrossFit - I currently go 4 days a week (and run at least one of the other days). Its made such a difference in my fitness level and I'm going to continue this.
• Reading
• Continue to eat paleo-ish. Cheat only when its really worth it.  Its related to CrossFit. I'm feel so much better when I'm fueling myself properly.
• Maintain inbox zero - It is the digital and managing all the inputs is crucial.  It doesn't mean I'm going to read every message, but I'm going to rely heavily on filters, Gmail's Priority Inbox, and my to do list (get it out of the inbox and on to the list to do it at the right time).  This goes hand in hand with GTD, which I've blogged about many times already.

What new habits do you want to make in 2013?